Welcome to the Opening Bell, where we round up what’s been announced for WWE (Raw and SmackDown) and AEW (Dynamite and Rampage) programming for the week ahead.
WWE Raw preview – Monday, June 27, Sames Auto Arena, Laredo, Texas
Hit the trumpets! After being gone for some time thanks to a busy schedule of Hollywood roles, John Cena returns to Raw to celebrate 20 years in WWE. It seems like only yesterday when he was the Doctor of Thuganomics, but it was, in fact, more than a decade ago. Along with celebrating his many contributions to the company, expect a party crasher by the name of Theory to set up a match for SummerSlam.
Also, Kevin Owens‘ quest to prove Ezekiel and Elias are the same person hit a major bump in the road last week, when Elias performed his first concert in month, then broke a guitar over K.O.’s back. Enraged, Owens challenged Ezekiel or Elias or “their even younger brother” Elrod to a match for Laredo, so the fun will be seeing which one of them walks down the ramp.
AEW Dynamite Blood and Guts preview – Wednesday, June 29, Little Caesars Arena, Detroit
It’s time for Blood and Guts, the match that threw Chris Jericho off a steel cage last year. Times have changed, however, with Jericho now leading the Jericho Appreciation Society, definitely not the fan favorite faction (alliteration is great) this time around. They’ll go up against the Blackpool Combat Club, newly bolstered by the arrival of Claudio Castagnoli during Forbidden Door.
But there is tension on the BCC side as well, with the combustible Eddie Kingston not always getting along with the Club members proper. That could be an issue in a match this intense.
Also, expect to see fallout from Forbidden Door, because it was a great show bound to reverberate through AEW programming in various ways.
WWE SmackDown – Friday, July 1, Footprint Center, Phoenix
Pat McAfee isn’t just a podcaster and announcer with the strongest leg in the universe. He’s acquitted himself well in a WWE ring so far, even if his 1-3 record doesn’t quite show it. Now he’s engaged in a war of words with Happy Corbin, and feeling good enough about himself to call Corbin out for a match at SummerSlam. Happy is expected to give his answer to the ex-NFL punter on Friday, and we’d be surprised if he doesn’t accept.
AEW Rampage – Friday, July 1, Little Caesars Arena, Detroit (taped on June 29)
AEW hasn’t released any info yet for this show, mostly thanks to it having two big events in less than a week. One thing to watch for is Swerve Strickland and Keith Lee, who were victorious on the Buy-In at Forbidden Door but then immediately under verbal assault from Ricky Starks and Powerhouse Hobbs. Another showdown between the two teams would make a lot of sense as the featured match on Rampage this week, but we’ll have to wait until Wednesday, most likely, to see.
